To Love a Queen
by BloodOfMyLove
Summary: Alfred grew up proudly at his prodigy sister's side. She gave his life direction in a world that didn't need him. Then, her research took her from him and he was cast in darkness, forced to seek out the light within his own madness.


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from resident evil. They belong to Capcom and I am merely playing in the sandbox of their world. I did however take some creative liberties.**

 **A/N: I had originally planned to have this one-shot done by Halloween, but it ended up expanded farther than originally planned. I'm still not completely happy with it, but I figured it was time to post it instead of letting it sit in my files.**

 **Anyway, I created this because I found the Ashford twins really interesting in Code Veronica. They're essentially psychopaths who only care for each other. Which is why I was disappointed with the Dark Chronicles portrayal of them. With this one-shot I wanted to explore their mindset and what made them who they are. Also, I want to point out that this is written from their point of view, so any statements are biased towards _their_ thoughts. **

**Please read with caution because this is marked horror. I personally don't think anything is bad enough to need a warning, but I can't speak for others. So this was written to come off creepy and does contain some bloody scenes. I don't think I need to up the rating, but if anyone thinks I should please let me know. I'd love to hear your reactions and constructive criticism is welcome with open arms.**

 **If anyone who read my other story Tender Bonds I want you guys to know I haven't abandoned the story. I just had to take an unexpected break from writing which lead to a hiatus due to lack of motivation, but I'm feeling back on track so I plan to start updating the story again.**

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"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." _-Friedrich Nietzsche -_

* * *

"Alfred." Alexia's voice was as sweet as honey as she called to him.

The young boy glanced up at her as she sat in the window sill, a coy smile on her lips. Her blonde hair glowed in the orange light of the evening sun. She beckoned him to her, eager for help with her latest experiment.

He'd grown up beside his genius sister Alexia, watching her as she excelled and brought esteem to the Ashford name. She was everything their father, Alexander Ashford, had hoped for. As her twin, Alfred shared the same genetic looks, but possessed none of the grace and intellect of his sister, average in every way.

Sitting down next to her, he took the dragonfly from her outstretched hand, careful to not let it fly away. Their father hovered across the room, silent as he filmed them.

"I wonder how quickly my ants would devour it?" she said thoughtfully.

Alfred grinned, knowing exactly what she wanted. He held the bug's body between his forefinger and thumb while using his other hand to pluck out its wings one by one; the dragon fly could only buzz in distress. Standing, the young boy made his way across the room to the ant farm, Alexia's gaze trailing behind him.

As he dangled the bug's twitching body above the ants, his sister languidly made her way to his side. Dropping the insect, they both observed silently as the ants swarmed and picked apart the other bug. Alexia had told him that ants' colonies worked together for their group and ultimately their queen. His sister found their socialist nature intriguing, choosing to study their unique traits in her research for the Umbrella corporation.

They ignored Alexander as he moved closer with the camera. Focused instead on the efficiency in which the ants had moved their new food back to the colony. Simultaneously, the twins turned to look at one another. Alfred could tell his sister was pleased by the triumphant smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile back.

Outsiders looked in on their family and called him a failure compared to her, but their opinions meant nothing to him. They were all worthless in Alexia's eyes. His sister found him, _the only person who truly understood her_ , worthy. That was all that mattered. Alfred was content to bask in her presence because Alexia was perfect in every way.

It was not long after this moment that Alexia discovered a new strand of virus within the genes of a fossilized ant queen. Fascinated by her discovery, his sister withdrew for long hours in her lab at the Antartic base, leaving Alfred to his own devices. Their father and the company made sure to provide her with everything she could need, urging her to follow their ancestor's legacy and secure their power within Umbrella. Alexia quickly rose in rank amongst Umbrella's scientists, proving herself better than even some of their brightest researchers.

As the only son, Alfred needed to uphold their image, but with his uninspiring talents their father only expected him to avoid distracting his sister. Not that he could blame Alexander, his sister was destined for great things, captivating everyone around her. To him, she was like the ant queen while everyone else supported the colony around her. He felt a certain fulfillment by aiding her goals in anyway he could.

One bleak afternoon nearly six months later, while trying to distract himself until Alexia was done working, Alfred discovered a secret door hidden behind a set of heavy drapes in their underground mansion. It had a unique locking system that required three keys. Alfred traced the outline of the locks with his finger as he pondered what kind of key could fit such odd shapes.

 _Their father must have hidden something very valuable to have barred even them from it._

He smirked to himself as he noticed his heirloom, a sapphire ring, fit perfectly. Eager to impress his sister with this discovery, Alfred rushed down to her lab. Intrigued, Alexia followed him back with the second gem, a ruby choker she wore around her neck.

When their father had gifted them with the jewelry, he had advised them to always wear the jewels. So it wasn't hard for the twins to deduce the third and final key, the jade piercing their father always wore. They worked together to drug his evening drink and steal the jewel off his unconscious form.

How silly it seemed that their father thought he could hide this from them. Alfred felt a fair amount of cleverness as they unlocked the ornate door, eager to discover its treasures. What they hadn't counted for was the earth shattering secret behind those locked doors.

Inside was a long and narrow room, lit by electric lamps. Along both sides of the dark walls hung large painted portraits. Many of the subjects the twins recognized from their family tree. They walked down the long room with wide eyes as they observed the paintings. Close to the end they even found their father's, but it paled in comparison to the largest portrait at the end. It hung framed in gold, alone on the wall above a writing desk. At first, Alfred thought it was a painting of his sister, but quickly he realized the woman was much older and wore outdated clothing.

Alexia had left his side while he gaped, sparing the portrait only a brief glance before moving to observe the contents of the desk. She skimmed through the papers laid out on top briefly, finding nothing of interest before moving to open the drawers. Alfred stopped admiring the portrait of what he could only assume was one of their ancestors and moved beside his sister to peer over her shoulder.

He could barely catch glimpses of words on what looked to be lab reports as Alexia read at an accelerated pace too enthralled to slow for his sake. Her face pinched as she tried to close off her emotions, but Alfred knew she'd found something major by how quickly her face went neutral. She'd been raised to show no weakness and if he wasn't so attuned to her even he may never have noticed. As she finished reading, Alexia carefully arranged the papers exactly as she found them. Sliding the drawer closed, she stepped back and looked up to gain a full view of the portrait hanging above.

Alfred fidgeted with the cuff of his sleeve as he tried to repress the urge to question her. _What had she discovered?_ Her eyes moved over the features of the beautiful woman critically as if trying to find answers within the paint. He couldn't wait any longer.

Stepping close to her, he placed a hand gently on her shoulder and asked, "Alexia, what is it?"

Her eyes glanced up at Alfred, sharp and intense as the dim light cast shadows across her face. She leaned into his touch, her voice a mock whisper as she revealed their family's closest secret.

"Our _dear_ father has been keeping important information from us, Alfred. In fact, he isn't even our father at all, but our creator."

His grip tightened around her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean, brother, is that we were created in a test tube from _her_ genes," Alexia said as she turned away from him to gesture widely at the portrait. Her voice rose as she spoke with pride and astonishment. "She is the Ashford matriarch, Veronica, and we are her direct descendants."

The young boy drew back from her as he tried to process his sister's words. _They were created like some lab experiment?_ Alfred's hands flew up to his face, resting against his temples as this revelation fully hit him. His whole life was based on a lie. Their father wasn't really their father, and the twin's mother hadn't died from an illness after their birth, but many years before their creation. His mind seemed to close in around him, narrowing down until only one thought could be heard.

 _Was he even really human?_

Hands grasped his wrists and forced his arms down. Alexia hovered in front of him sternly, holding his gaze until his frantic breathing calmed and his mind settled, grounding him to reality before he cracked. Satisfied that Alfred wasn't going to have a nervous breakdown, his sister released him.

"Don't you realize what this means?" Alexia asked as she drew herself up. "We are not bound by normal rules, but made outside of natural laws and, therefore, destined for greatness!"

Her confidence was contagious, and Alfred found himself nodding along to her words. His thoughts drifted to Alexia who had out performed all other employees in Umbrella's research department and suddenly understood. If they weren't normal than they must be superior. His sister smiled sweetly at his compliance as she stepped towards the wall with her father's portrait.

"Do go fetch Alexander, Alfred. I want to repay him for this revelation of our birth," she said as she ran her a finger down the side the painting's frame.

Turning from his sister, Alfred left the room in a daze. Away from Alexia, he was able to quietly think about their discovery as he walked briskly through the mansion. As the shock faded, his thoughts began to slowly grow angry.

 _If they had been genetically modified to carry on Veronica Ashford's success then why had their father only given Alexia the superior intellect? Why was he born a failure?_

The younger Ashford's breathing became heavy as he thought of the easiest way to lure their father out. It didn't take him long to realize that Alexander's greatest weakness was the daughter he loved the most. He gritted his teeth together as he pushed open the door to Alexander's study, the man sat in front of a desk, typing up a report on his computer. Unaware of the scheme against him.

Sensing Alfred's presence, his father glance up at the boy with his eyebrows drawn together. His expression seeming to say _'why are you bother me?_ '. The lie left Alfred's lips easily, Alexander was easy to lure with a story of Alexia injuring her self in the lab. The man's face twisted in panic, no doubt over the idea of a potential setback on the family's legacy, and filled the younger Alfred with a vicious glee.

As his father jumped up and rushed to the door to help Alexia, Alfred grabbed one of the heavy busts from the built in bookshelves. Mustering as much power as he could, the young boy brought it down hard against the back of Alexander's head. He cried out in pain and crumbled to the floor, unconscious. Alfred's stomach twisted strangely, the foreign feeling felt both strange and intoxicating.

His sister stepped into the room moments later, having apparently been waiting outside in the hall. Two men dressed in Umbrella uniforms followed in behind her. Her eyes settled smugly on Alexander as she ordered the men to carry him. Alfred knew where she would take him, the secret room built under the facility for her research. Though, he felt certain its original purpose had been for a large animal test subject and not their father.

The men and Alexia disappeared out of the study, but Alfred didn't follow. Instead he went in the opposite direction , moving quickly to the main floors and following the maintenance halls for several minutes to a storage room. The room was small with faded tile floors and yellow walls, a break room the employees hardly used. The young man moved to the only locker with a keypad at the back, after entering in a code, the door popped open to reveal an empty locker with a grated floor. From below, he could hear the echoes of footsteps and a pained moan. He quickly dropped to his knees, trying to get a view of the room beneath him.

Alfred pressed his face close as he peered between the metal bars positioned directly over a round concrete room. Below, he spotted Alexander, who was bound with metal cuffs to a chair against the walls. They'd further trapped him in with a medieval axe that was embedded in the wall; its blade hovering next to his neck and the handle barring his chest. Beside him stood the two Umbrella guards, arms folded across their chest with their faces trained forward.

The older Ashford pulled forward in confusion as he woke from his stupor, before quickly drawing back against the wall as he hissed in pain. Alfred's eyes followed a thin line of blood as it slide down his father's neck the axe's sharp edge. Panic ebbed into Alexander's voice as he demanded that Alexia tell him what was going on. His sister stood in front of him dressed in a long white lab coat with her hair pulled back from her face. She watched Alexander clinically, her eyes empty, disconnected from the man who had raised her.

She suddenly looked up at him, a twisted smile contorting her face as she mouthed, "Watch closely."

Her hand slowly dropped into one of the pockets on her coat and casually withdrew a needle filled with a purple liquid, her prized research. Alexander's eyes widened as he also noticed the small weapon in her hand, but before he could react Alexia plunged the syringe into their father's neck and dispensed it's contents. Jerking in surprise and anger, the man switched from begging to threating her. His words fell on deaf ears as both twins watched him with anticipation.

At first, nothing happened besides his terrified shouts as he demanded what Alexia had injected in him. Alfred impatiently shifted positions over the grate trying to gain a better view while they waited. His sister's gaze stayed focused as she barely moved while analyzing Alexander, ignoring any of the man's attempts at conversation.

The symptoms came slow as time seemed to crawl. Slowly, their father's skin darkened into a dull grey, and then, ever so slightly, his body began to tremble before breaking out in a sweat. Groans erupted from the man as a white foam leaked from his mouth. Alfred's breath hitched when suddenly their father violently convulsed, his eyes rolling in the back of his head. Just as quickly as the shaking had begun it stopped.

Seconds ticked by as Alexander didn't so much as breathe and from Alfred's spot above, his father looked like a corpse. Part of him hoped the man really was dead and a smaller part of him watched his chest for any movement. Abruptly, Alexander threw his head back, bouncing his skull off the wall. His mouth gaped open in a silent scream with his eyes squeezed shut. The skin across his chest began to ripple as something large moved beneath. The Umbrella guards shouted in alarm as a long, thin, bone erupted from his skin, followed by two more from his shoulder and back. Each of their ends sharpened into a deadly spear. On each side of him the guards drew their guns, prepared to shoot at the first sign of danger.

Alexia's observed him curiously, but with a small frown. Their father's mutation meant the test had been a failure and the virus still wasn't ready. She turned from him dismissively and left the room, shutting the door behind her. The guards walked backwards with their eyes on the mutation as they followed after her. Alfred started to sit up from the grate to go catch up with his sister, but stopped as something moved below.

His eyes only saw a blur as blood splattered against the floor. One of the Umbrella employees cried out in pain, a spike, glistening wet with a dark liquid, jutted from his chest. As quickly as it had speared the man, the bone slid out and curled back against Alexander's body. The injured man dropped to the floor as a red pool began growing around him.

His partner roared in anger for his comrade as he fired his gun repeatedly upon Alexander. The bullets tore into his father's grey flesh with a sickening thud. An inhumane screech erupted from the mutated man. He was hurt, but not dead. One of his spikes tensed to react just as the guard's gun clicked as it reached the end of the ammunition clip. Cursing, he threw the weapon down and turned to run. Mere seconds after he moved Alexander's bone hit the stone floor the guard had been standing on. The spike pulled back to Alexander's body again as his head lulled side to side in limp protest.

Alfred looked to the employee and saw relief on the man's face as he reached the door. Grasping the handle, the guard turned the knob hard enough to rattle the frame but it refused to open. Terror descended over the man as he began to bang wildly against the metal door, shouting for help. The young twin couldn't tear his eyes from the scene unfolding in front of him.

 _Had his sister locked it on purpose?_

The guard trembled in front of the door as he turned to watch the mutated man. Across the room, his father's shriek had gone silent as his head drooped down against his chest. The spiked bones were tucked in against his sickly skin. Unexpectedly, the knob behind the guard turned as the metal locks slid open. The door swung open to reveal Alexia.

Her employee tried to dash from the room as he shouted gratefully, "Thank G-"

Dark red liquid showered his sister, who didn't even flinch as Alexander's spike gutted the man. Pulling back out, blood poured from the guard's wound as he whimpered in a stunned shock. His hands pressed against the flow, but quickly became coated in the thick fluid. Alfred watched the wounded man's lips formed the word 'help' as he dropped to his knees. His sister took a brief moment to wipe off her face, but made no move as she apathetically watched the man bleed out.

Another bone whipped out and hooked around the man to slowly drag him back to their father, whose mouth hung open, letting excess saliva trail down his chin. An almost metallic scent drifted up from the carnage below and became distinctly stronger as he watched the mutant use its various spikes to help him feed off the corpses.

Pulling his gaze from the husk of their father, Alfred met Alexia's sharp gaze as she glanced up at him too. Silently, she beckoned him to follow her before swiftly turning to leave. He waited until the door locked behind her before rising from his crouch. Alfred stretched his limbs, which had gone stiff, before shutting the locker and cutting off the squelching sounds from below.

He hurried from the room and through the halls to where he knew she'd be waiting. He descend on an elevator to the lowest level of their base which contained Alexia's lab. Punching in the passcode to the security door, he waited impatiently as the light above turned green. Whirring reached his ears as the gears begin to shift and the mechanical lock finally released.

The door swung open and he rushed in, sweeping his gaze across the sterile white room and its many metallic counters, covered in his sister's research equipment. At last, he spotted her towards the back of the room, hunched over a microscope with papers fanned out beside it.** **As Alfred briskly walked closer, she turned from looking into the eyepiece to frantically making notes.

"Veronica," Alexia suddenly said as her writing slowed.

"What?" he asked as he stopped beside her with a raised eyebrow.

"I've finally found the power I've been searching for," She said faintly as her bright eyes focused on him, "and I'll call the virus T-Veronica, a tribute to our benefactor."

That day in the lab and Alexander's mutation gave insight into Alexia's research on T-Veronica and, from then on, she worked with a new fervor to unlock it's potential. Changing and twisting the virus' DNA in hopes of utilizing its benefits without suffering the consequences. Alfred did his best to assist her in anyway he could as also he struggled to keep up his education. He felt giddy over the idea of the future Alexia said her research could give them.

When he wasn't at her side or studying, Alfred would visit his father. Alleviating some of his sister's stress by taking responsibility over Alexander's care. Over the months since his injection, their father had further degraded from the virus. His gray skin had become dry and rough, causing many areas to crack open. Most notably was the crevice that ran along his chest and split open deep enough to reveal his beating heart.

Similar to T-virus subjects, their mutated father acted on instinct with a psychotic rage to sate his constant hunger. Alfred on occasion enjoyed testing the mutant's abilities by luring maintenance men into the room and locking the door behind them. His observations revealed that the virus had adapted in a way that allowed Alexander to spew toxic gas to incapacitate his prey.

After months of studying the virus and observing their father, Alexia felt confident she could harness its power without succumbing to mutation. Lacking further breakthroughs on the virus, his sister used the assimilation rate of test subjects to create a time frame for her to use T-Veronica. To do so, however, she would have to spend fifteen years in a cyrostasis state to assimilate without mutating like their father. Quicker than Alfred could anticipate, she began the process of preparing for her departure. Contracts were made and private companies hired to build a hidden lab to store her.

As the only other Ashford remaining, Alfred received training, at his sister's insistence, to take over as head of the family. Maintaining the Ashford name and handling their responsibilities would all be left to the son everyone deemed a failure until her return. Alexia assured him that as an Ashford he possessed the potential to succeed.

Within a couple of month's his sister was ready to embrace the virus within her on body.

Alfred stood alone in a newly built underground lab as he waited for his sister. The door of a cryogenic tube hung open, mockingly, in front of him. It reminded him of what he was about to lose. Alexia's absence would be temporary, but still distressing. On the counter beside him laid his sister's T-Veronica virus, prepped and ready for injection.

From beside him, the metal floor creaked and groaned under the weight of the approaching footsteps. He turned and watched Alexia approach. She calmly strode naked across the lab with the fluorescent lights illuminating her fair skin, seemingly ready to initiate her plan. Her long blonde hair hung around her as she held her head high, her hands hanging at her side as stopped before him.

"Alfred, the virus please," Alexia said as she held out her hand.

He couldn't meet her gaze as he retrieved the syringe and ran his thumb over it's plastic surface. Doubts swirled in his mind.

"Maybe you don't have to do this, perhaps you just haven't discovered a quicker way to assimilate with the virus," Alfred said as his voice cracked .

Her face darkened as she took a step closer and brushed up against him. "Don't be ridiculous. Give. Me. The. Virus!"

Trying not to drop it, he fumbled with the needle as she swiped it from his hand. Alexia stepped away from him and into the tank, giving him a pointed look as if to say, _'follow the plan'_. His lips thinned as he tried to accept the circumstances. The plan wasn't ideal, but Alexia knew what she was doing. They both stayed silent as Alfred worked to connect the monitor wires and IV on his sister. Once he finished, she leaned against the glass at the back of the cryogenic tube, her arm poised with her other hand holding the needles above it.

He held his breath as he waited for her to inject the virus. Alexia paused, then pulled the needle away from her arm. He exhaled as her dark blue eyes looked up and met his. His sister straightened and stepped out of the tube as far as the IV lines would let her go. She hovered in its entrance with the syringe clutched in one hand. Alfred moved the rest of the distance already knowing she wanted him to come closer. Her arm reached out for him as he came within reach. Alexia ran her empty hand along his cheek and around his head to rest at the base of his neck. Pulling him forward, she rested her forehead against his.

Their breaths mingled as she whispered, "I promise I'll be back and we'll show the world the true power of a queen."

His gut twisted and he vowed to hold her to that promise. Alexia pulled away from him, her arm dropping to her side as she stepped back into the glass tube. He tensed his jaw forcing himself to remain calm. His sister resumed her earlier position and he moved to the machine's console. Alfred pushed a button and the tube's clear door shut, closing Alexia in. Her blue eyes seemed bottomless as they met his through the glass, pinning him where he stood. She stuck the needle in her arm and Alfred watched with apprehension as the liquid drained from the syringe.

 _This is it._

Unlike like with their father, the symptoms seemed almost immediate. Her body convulsed violently as the virus hit her bloodstream and the syringe fell from her hands to clatter against the bottom of the tube. He could only watch in a stunned fascination, paralyzed by Alexia's wounded expression as the virus worked to kill his sister .

"Alfred, start it now!" she said as her breaths became ragged from the pain.

Her words broke him from his trance and he quickly punched another button on the console. A thick liquid medication quickly began moving through the IV tubes and into her body. The vitrification process had began, when finished it would prevent the liquid in her body from turning into ice when frozen. Her hand thumped against the glass, jolting his heart within his chest. He quickly pressed another button to initiate the cryogenic cooling.

Ice cold water sprayed from the top of the cryogenic tube and drained through the open vent at the bottom, soaking Alexia within seconds to rapidly cool down her body temperature. She twisted and clawed at her body as T-veronica invaded her cells causing Alfred to worry that the virus would advance too quickly.

Next, the anesthesia was sent through the tubes until, finally, he pulled one of the levers to close the open drains and released liquid nitrogen into the tank. The clear liquid rose around her quickly and white fog danced around her, obscuring his view into the tube until it had completely filled.

The pure panic on her face looked alien on his sister's regal features and he wondered if she felt regret in the last few moments before her eyelids dragged closed. Slowly, her features smoothed and her limbs fell still until her body entered into a frozen sleep. One he knew she wouldn't return from for fifteen years.

His fingers trailed across the various buttons on the console as he watched her float peacefully within the liquid. A sharp pain in his chest gripped his heart as Alfred felt the first tugs of loneliness. With a deep breath he pushed aside his feelings and turned away from his sister. He needed to stage her death for the rest of the world so he could assume head of the family and then he could prepare things for her return.

At first, he returned to the lab regularly to watch his sister in her frozen slumber. Alfred thought he would find solace in the visits, but her unresponsive presence seemed to only deepen his yearning. Slowly, days began to turn into months and then years as he waited. Eventually, the young Ashford's boyish features morphed into a man and, from the glass tank. his sister also aged, developing into a beautiful young woman. To him it seemed like the two had grown into different people, no longer the same children they'd been.

Without Alexia, Alfred began to increasingly feel like a part of himself was missing. Constantly longing for the day when he could release her and show the world her power. Months passed and Alfred struggled, trying his hardest to fulfill his sister's will. He wanted her to reawaken and be proud of everything he'd done for her. So the young man worked hard in his schooling, desperate to understand the science behind his sister's work. He tried and tried, but could only just barely grasp the fundamentals.

 _Why couldn't he have been made as smart as Alexia?_

She'd be so disappointed in him if he failed. It was his fear that propelled him through the years as he struggled to graduate, scared Alexia might not return if he couldn't prove himself worthy.

Shortly after university, Alfred returned to take over Ashford's power within Umbrella. The stress pressed down on him as the company presented itself as a constant critique of his action. He was never smart enough and lacked the skills of proper leadership like his sister. Slowly, they tore down his family's empire as he struggled to meet their agenda until all that remained was the Antarctic base and the prison camp on Rockfort Island.

He promised himself to rule over the island with an iron fist so as to ensure its success. To prove that he could live up to the Ashford name. A deep need in his mind drove him to run experiments in hopes of making a break-through with the viruses. It was the perfect plan since the island was already stocked with subjects to test; the island's prisoners. After all, they deserved a fate worse than death for going against Umbrella. Often times he found himself sentencing anyone who got in his way to participate in the malicious studies, participating briefly filled his emptiness. Umbrella believed the Ashford legacy was over, but he knew that when his sister returned they'd prove them all wrong. Until then, the young Ashford would continuing running research on Rockfort Island.

Alfred stood beside a window in his newly built private mansion. The building stood on the highest point of the island, giving him a vantage overview of the entire training facility from his window. He pushed open the window to let in a breeze as he considered the days events. One of the doctor's planned to preform a live autopsy on one of the subjects and he was scheduled to sit in.

"Alfred."

The young man turned and surveyed his bedroom, finding it empty except for himself. His name had been called so softly as if carried in from the wind. Alfred looked back out the window and ran his eyes over the grounds searching for a person who wasn't in sight. The voice had been so familiar to him, calling forth many memories of his childhood, but she was in Antartica sleeping until her body assimilated with T-veronica.

"This way quickly!" the voice urged from behind him, tugging on his senses as he whipped his head back around to the room.

Rushing from the window, he stepped out into the hall looking around frantically. This time he was sure that had been Alexia's voice. His black dress shoes clacked against the marble stone as he navigated the halls, following her soft voice down the stairs and into the foyer. Still he could not find her, but he could hear her soft amused giggle echoing around him. Standing in the middle of the room, he slowly turned in a circle, observing every shadow and pillar for her presence.

"Lord Ashford?" The hesitant voice of an Umbrella employee came from behind him, causing her voice to fade, leaving nothing of her's behind.

"No, no, no," Alfred said in a panic, begging her to come back.

The other man could only stand there in confusion as the cold dictator unraveled before him, pacing frantically around the room. Minutes passed and the messenger shifted uncomfortable, his presence seemingly unnoticed. The employee tried to draw his attention again.

"Lord Ashford, I have a message for you."

Alfred's wild eyes jerked to stare at the man accusingly. "You!" He spat. "It was you!"

His sister had left because of this employee, he had driven her away. The Ashford twin grasped the handgun holstered at his side. The employee's eyes flew wide as his boss gasped at the gun. Clicking off the safety, Alfred aimed it as the other man backed away, begging him not to shoot.

 _Maybe it would please her if she killed him._

For each step he took closer to the messenger the man's face twisted further in fear. The blonde dictator smirked.

Bang!

The other man's body dropped as he gurgled on his own blood, his hands grasping at his throat where Alfred had shot him. Lowering the handgun, Alfred pouted over missing his mark. He'd been aiming for the head. The young Ashford ran his hand over his face and chuckled darkly.

 _Where was her voice? Why hadn't it returned?_

The dying man shuddered and choked on his last breath as the last Ashford stepped over him. Heading back upstairs, he entered the room he'd dedicated to his sister, hoping he might hear her voice there.

He had bought and arranged everything in the room to the preferences he knew his sister had. The room was large and contained everything a young woman could want. His footsteps echoed around him as he drifted around the room, waiting for her to speak to him again. Alfred stopped in front of the vanity's mirror, observing his own reflection. The man in the mirror was wearing his red military-style uniform, but showed none of the composer he'd been fighting to keep for so long. His normally slicked back hair was disheveled from running and his sweat gave his features a sickly sheen. Alexia would be disappointed.

Alfred dropped his gaze quickly from the reflection, focusing intently on anything else. Her vanity held the top make-up brands and jewelry that money could buy. Beside it stood a mannequin he had outfitted with a deep violet dress and blonde wig. Alfred gingerly removed the dress he'd bought for her return. The soft silk glided smoothly against his fingers. Gripping it tightly, he brought the material close to his face as he slumped to sit on the bed. Alfred squeezed his eyes shut and drew in a deep breath. Imagining that it held her scent, but he had long since forgotten what his sister smelled like. Years had passed while Alexia blissfully slumbered, merging with her own creation, and he was left to watch his life crumble around him.

His chaotic thoughts suddenly went blessedly blank, desperate to escape his reality. Momentary peace enveloped him as he drifted within his mind. Minutes passed as he slowly calmed down, retrieving the part of himself that could think rationally. His broken mind felt closer to normal than it had in years. Finally, Alfred felt ready to return to resume his proper role as commandant of Rockfort Island. He'd been remiss in his duties for too long.

He opened his eyes, determined to stop his foolish searching, and blinked rapidly in the bright fluorescent light. Alfred wasn't sitting on his sister's bed, but standing in her bathroom. The man glanced around confusedly.

 _When had he walked in here?_

Turning toward the sink, he froze in surprise and awe. Standing before him was the one person he longed to see again. Alexia stood taller and older than he remembered, wearing the purple dress he'd bought her. Just the sight of her made his world feel less dark as if illuminated by her light. He smiled widely, the first true smile since she'd left, and she smiled just as wide back.

"Alexia," he said her name softly like a prayer. His voice sounded stunned and filled with reverence. "You came back to me!"

Her lips moved at the same time he spoke, but he could hear her pleasant voice clearly. Her words resonated in his head. "Of course, I told you I would."

A weight lifted from his shoulders as relief flooded over him. Alfred felt as if he had finally found direction after years of wandering. The stress and pressure vanished from his mind as he gazed at her wonderstruck. He lifted his hand tentatively, overcome with a desire to touch her. She raised her hand at the same time and they simultaneously reached out to one another. He'd missed his sister, his Alexia, his queen. Their fingertips touched and they slowly laid their hands flat, palm to palm. In his mind, he felt that everything would now be alright. She had returned.

Alfred could only marvel at how cool and smooth her hand felt, _like touching glass._


End file.
